In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a night scene, as well as how to retouch your skin, giving it a soft painting effect! In this lesson, you will learn how to create a composition of various photos, how to smooth the skin, as well as how to apply special lighting and color effects.
Final result
Source materials:
STEP 1 – Rear Background
Open the image Background.
Open the sky image. Copy / paste this image onto a new layer on top of the layer with the background. Apply the transformation to the image (CTRL + T) according to the background dimensions, then Flip Vertically (flip vertical). Change the blending mode for this layer to Soft light (Soft light).
Add adjustment layer Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast) and decrease the value Brightness (Brightness) to – 45.
STEP 2 – Girl
Open the image Girl. Create a selection around the girl. (I used the tool Fast allotment
(Quick selection tool).
Without removing the selection, press CTRL + J to paste the selected image of the girl on a new layer. Remove the original image of the girl. As you can see, the edges of the image are not perfect. But do not worry, we will fix it in the next step!
Let’s choose a tool Finger 
(Smudge Tool), in order to fix the edges. In this case, I used the following settings: Intensity (Strength) 40% and Brush 
(Brush) size 55px (soft round). Simply walk the Finger tool along the contour of the borders to smooth them and remove defects. Then, remove any unwanted parts that you do not like. In the screenshot below, what we have at the moment (at the moment, the girl should not look perfect, especially her hair).
Next, copy / paste the image of the girl on a new layer on top of all our layers that we created in our document. Apply scaling (CTRL + T) to the image of the girl, and then the image of the girl Flip horizontally (flip horizontally), because the girl’s lighting is more suitable for the light source, which is located on the left. Move it to the left side of the document. In the screenshot below, what we did.
Now, we need to remove the right side of the background. So … let’s cut it off!
STEP 3 – Retouch skin
I will show you how to retouch your skin. If you are not familiar with the tool Finger (smudge tool), it may be difficult for you, but still, you can try to achieve a good result and practice this technique. In any case, if you do not like smooth skin, then leave it as it is and continue the lesson from the next steps. As you can see in the screenshot below, the most difficult part is to smooth the hair on the girl’s face.
First, duplicate the girl layer, so if something goes wrong, you can go back to the original layer. From now on, you will be working on a duplicate layer. Choose a tool Finger (smudge tool). Each time, the settings will change. Tool settings will depend on the size of the image and the extent to which you want your skin to be soft and smooth. In this case, I used a soft round brush, brush size 28px, Intensity (strength) between 15% and 20%. Having adjusted the brush, start smoothing the skin, as if creating small circular motions (See the screenshot below).
HINT: The larger the area (for example, cheeks or forehead) that you treat with the Finger, the larger should be the brush that you use. If you have to handle more complex areas (for example, facial hair), simply use a higher Intensity (strength) tool. In any case, experiment every time, because the settings will not always be the same).
In the screenshot below, the result after the tool action Finger (smudge tool). We need to fix the lips and eyes, because they contain some fragments of hair. (Actually, I also used the Finger tool on the lips and eyes of the girl, because he gives the image the effect of the painted picture more).
To retouch lips, simply repeat the direction of the tool, as shown in the screenshot below, otherwise, you will spoil everything. In the screenshot below, I indicated the direction of the tool (you may need to increase Intensity (strength) brushes).
The result in the screenshot below ……. and the hair disappeared!
You have to do the same with the eyes. Repeat tool direction. For retouching the eye, I used the value Intensity (strength) 28%
In the screenshot below, you may notice that there are areas that are difficult to retouch due to different color shades. I suggest you use Airbrush (airbrush), choosing in advance shades next to the retouching area (in this case, dark makeup). After that, you can simply use the Finger tool.
Once you have processed your right eye, do the same with your left eye. Via Airbrush (airbrush), process difficult sites, having chosen the same color shades, and then smooth them!
So, both eyes are treated. Increase Intensity (strength) tool Finger (I used the value of 60%) and work on the makeup, smoothly stretching it.
In the screenshot below, the result at the moment.
Continue retouching the rest of the skin. I used the value Intensity (Strength) 10% -15% for retouching hands and fingers.
STEP 4 – Hair
If you are satisfied with the result of the retouched skin, then delete the original layer with the girl, and then duplicate the layer with which you worked. Next, we will work with the duplicate. Download Hair brushes. Select tool again Finger (Smudge tool), and then select brush 200. I set the brush size to 40px and the value Intensity (Strength) 95%. Start from the top of the head, going down, smearing and creating small curls of hair (from the inside to the outside).
As soon as you smooth the borders, reduce the intensity of the Finger tool to 86% and start retouching the hair, repeating the direction of the hair, as if combing it. The size of the brush will vary. This will depend on how large the retouching area is. When you finish retouching your hair, remove the top of the hair.
In the screenshot below, the result is currently after retouching the hair and skin.
STEP 5 – Color Correction
Add adjustment layer Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation) (only for a layer with a girl):
Red (Red) Saturation (Saturation) -45
Yellow (Yellow) Saturation (Saturation) -28
Add adjustment layer Color Balance (Color Balance) (only for a layer with a girl):
Shadows (Shadows): -20 +4 -8
Mid tones (Midtones): -12 +13 +9
Sveta (Highlights): -19 +2 0
Add adjustment layer Gradient map (Gradient Map) (only for a layer with a girl).
Change the blending mode for the adjustment layer to Overlap (Overlay) – Opacity (Opacity) 80% – Fill (Fill) 80%
And we get the following result:
Add adjustment layer Gradient map (Gradient Map) (apply this adjustment layer to the entire image, creating on top of all layers)
Change the blending mode for the adjustment layer to Soft light (Soft Light) – Opacity (Opacity) and Fill (Fill) 50%
And you will get:
STEP 6 – Light in the background of the girl
In order for the girl to fit into the inner part of the composition, let’s add light to the background of the girl. Create a new layer below the girl layer. Select a soft white brush and paint with a brush next to its outline.
Apply Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur) (I used a blur radius of 100px). The result is in the screenshot below.
STEP 7 – Stars
Create a new layer below the layer you just created when creating the light in the background of the girl. Place here an image with stars (fireworks). Next, press CTRL + T to scale the image, rotate the image clockwise (90 CW) and Flip horizontally (flip horizontally).
Change the blending mode for this layer to Lightening (Screen) – Opacity (Opacity) and Fill (Fill) 80%. If you look at the image, you will see that the edge of the image is visible. Choose a tool Eraser
(Eraser Tool) and installing a soft brush, remove the visible line (I set the brush size to 150px with Opacity (Opacity) brush 40%).
Add adjustment layer Curves (Curves) over a layer with stars. In the window Style (Curves) set the contrast enhancement option (‘Increase Contrast) and change the blending mode to Glow (Luminosity). Next, on top of all layers, add an adjustment layer. Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast), decrease the value Brightness (Brightness) to – 10.
Result at the moment.
STEP 8 – Moon
Create a new layer below the girl layer. Download the Luna brushes and draw the white color to the Moon (I deleted the left side of the Moon, because I didn’t like it).
STEP 9 – Reduce Saturation
Add adjustment layer Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation) and set the value Saturation (Saturation) on – 15.
STEP 10 Light Glare
Now, we need to add some light and we will do it on two layers. Let’s start with the moonlight. Draw a few rays of light emanating from the moon and directed at the girl, using a hard round brush, using a light color shade (but not a pure white color). Apply Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur) with a 65px blur radius, and then change the blending mode for this layer to Soft light (Soft Light) – Opacity (Opacity) and Fill (Fill) 80%.
Create another layer, set the blending mode for this layer to Soft light (Soft Light) – Opacity (Opacity) and Fill (Fill) 70%. Set the color to # 96dce0 and brush the light highlights on the bottom of the composition. (In the screenshot below, you can see exactly where to apply the brush). This time, you should use a soft brush, because we will not apply any blur.
Result at the moment.
STEP 11 – Contrast
Add adjustment layer Curves (Curves). In the window Style (Curves) set the Linear Contrast option.
STEP 12 – Lightening / Darkening
In this step, we will work on the light shades using the tool Clarifier 
/ Dimmer 
(Dodge / Burn Tool).
Create a new layer, change the mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay). Next, go Editing – Fill – 50% gray (Edit> Fill> 50% Gray).
Choose a tool Clarifier (Dodge Tool) and add life to the light. See screenshot below. I used the settings Range (Range) Mid tones (Midtones) and meaning Exposure (Exposure) 10% / 15% for areas with soft white color. I used the settings Range (Range) Sveta (Highlights) where the white color is brighter.
Next, select the tool Dimmer (Burn tool) settings Range (Range) Mid tones (Midtones) and meaning Exposure (Exposure) 10% / 20% and draw the shadow where you see the dark strokes in the screenshot below.
STEP 13 – Final Correction
If you are satisfied with the result (the only thing I added is a little hair), then combine all the layers to apply the filters. (Press Shift + CTRL + ALT + E)
Let’s go Filter – Distortion – Distortion Correction (Filters> Lens Correction). When the settings window appears, in the settings option Vignette (Vignette), apply the value Effect (amount) -20.
Duplicate this layer. Let’s go Filter – Other – Color contrast(Filter> Other> High pass). I used this filter to highlight the details. (radius mostly between 1px and 3px). Once you have applied this filter, change the blending mode to Overlap (Overlay).
Create a new layer. Using a soft white brush, draw two dots in her eyes.
Final result
Author: Fabrizio Panattoni
Link to the PSD file of the lesson
